Listen to this article七言律詩
柳宗元
登柳州城樓寄漳汀封連四州刺史
城上高樓接大荒， 海天愁思正茫茫。
驚風亂颭芙蓉水， 密雨斜侵薜荔牆。
嶺樹重遮千里目， 江流曲似九迴腸。
共來百越文身地， 猶自音書滯一鄉。
Seven-character-regular-verse
Liu Zongyuan
FROM THE CITY-TOWER OF LIUZHOU
TO MY FOUR FELLOW-OFFICIALS AT ZHANG,
DING, FENG, AND LIAN DISTRICTS
At this lofty tower where the town ends, wilderness begins;
And our longing has as far to go as the ocean or the sky….
Hibiscus-flowers by the moat heave in a sudden wind,
And vines along the wall are whipped with slanting rain.
Nothing to see for three hundred miles but a blur of woods and mountain —
And the river’s nine loops, twisting in our bowels….
This is where they have sent us, this land of tattooed people —
And not even letters, to keep us in touch with home.
